Countdown to FIBA Asia 2013 & Preliminary Game Schedule

The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship is set to unveil tomorrow, August 1, for a two-week tournament featuring the best basketball teams in Asia. Basketball fans in the country, as well as the world, are excited to witness the said tournament especially since the country will be playing host this year. This will only be the third time in FIBA's 53-year history that the Philippines will host the tournament. In fact, the tournament will be back here after four decades since it last played host.

Image: http://www.solarsportsdesk.ph/

The FIBA Asia Championship 2013 will serve as the qualifying round for the upcoming FIBA World Cup Championship that will be held in Spain next year. The top three teams to emerge from this tournament will earn the right to represent Asia in the said event. To refresh your memory, the draw for the groupings for all competing teams were done last June 6 and the groups look as follows:

Group A: Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Chinese Taipei
Group B: Japan, Qatar, Hong Kong (Lebanon was suspended from competition by FIBA officials due to legal woes)
Group C: China, South Korea, Iran, Malaysia
Group D: Bahrain, India, Thailand, and Kazakhstan

If you are looking to watch the games live, you can take note of the preliminary list of games schedule for the FIBA Asia 2013 tournament here:

August 1, 2013 (Thursday)

Mall of Asia Arena

11:00am - Iran vs Malaysia
1:15pm - Jordan vs Chinese Taipei
3:30pm - Japan vs Qatar
5:45pm - China vs Korea
8:30pm - Saudi Arabia vs Philippines
10:30pm - Kazakhstan vs Thailand

Ninoy Aquino Stadium

6:00pm - India vs Bahrain

August 2, 2013 (Friday)

Mall of Asia Arena

11:00am - China vs Malaysia
1:15pm - Chinese Taipei vs Saudi Arabia
3:30pm - Japan vs Hong Kong
5:45pm - Korea vs Iran
8:30pm - Jordan vs Philippines
10:30pm - Thailand vs India

Ninoy Aquino Stadium

6:00pm - Kazakhstan vs Bahrain

August 3, 2013 (Saturday)

Mall of Asia Arena

11:00am - Malaysia vs Korea
1:15pm - India vs Kazakhstan
3:30pm - Hong Kong vs Qatar
5:45pm - Iran vs China
8:30pm - Philippines vs Chinese Taipei
10:30pm - Saudi Arabia vs Jordan

Ninoy Aquino Stadium

6:00pm - Bahrain vs Thailand

Check us back for more updates on results and schedules for the ongoing FIBA Asia 2013 tournament.

*Disclaimer: Credits to www.rappler.com for schedule list.

Gilas Pilipinas Adds Belga Into the Lineup, Joins Training Camp

Image: interaksyon.com

Smart Gilas Pilipinas is in the thick of its preparation for the upcoming FIBA Asia 2013 Tournament, which the team will be hosting this year. After head coach Chot Reyes’ announcement via Twitter that the Smart Gilas Pilipinas had been un-invited to this year’s Jones Cup tournament, the team is looking for other ways to train and prepare for the upcoming FIBA Asia Championship. And as part of the team’s effort to boost their lineup, Rain or Shine center Beau Belga had been added into the lineup. Belga will replace Slaughter in the lineup, who was kept by his amateur team from joining Smart Gilas’ stint at a Lithuanian camp. 


As of now, Beau Belga is bent in getting the right fitness level so he can be in shape for the upcoming competition that Smart Gilas will be joining in. Head coach Chot Reyes recently named him as the latest inclusion into the Smart Gilas training pool. The 225-lb center has also made a few adjustments in his lifestyle to ensure that he will have faster rate at improving his conditioning, especially since it is his dream to become a national player. 

However, Beau Belga was unable to join the rest of the team as they flew to Lithuania because he is still processing his visa. Once that is good to go, he will be able to join the rest of the team in the succeeding preparations for the FIBA Asia competition. 

The training camp in Lithuania will last for two weeks wherein they will have a series of tune-up games against top Lithuanian ball clubs. Coach Chot Reyes admits that this training camp is nothing like the competitive sharpness they will get when competing at the Jones Cup tournament, of which they had been uninvited. 

Aside from the competitive training they will get, Chot Reyes is also hoping that players will bond and improve their team chemistry, on and off the court, as a result of this trip. Four players, though, won’t be making the trip namely Jared Dillinger, Sonny Thoss and Ryan Reyes, due to their respective injuries. Meanwhile, Kelly Williams had been taken out of the lineup due to his recurring blood disorder.